April 11th, Fly Fishing Report for the Truckee River, Little Truckee River and Pyramid Lake
We are now in the early stages of run off here on the Truckee and its tributaries. Flows are on the rise and likely won’t drop again until mid-to-late May. What does this mean for fishing in the area? Well, first off, it means you should certainly keep fishing. A lot of anglers get intimidated by high water, while we can’t necessarily blame you, the fact is the fish can’t leave the water and they have to keep eating. In this week’s Truckee River section of the report, we will talk about tactics of fishing during spring runoff, which we have said many times over, is one of our favorite times of the year to fish the river.
Guided Spring Fly Fishing
April is one of the best months of the year to fish the Truckee River. The days are longer and water temperatures are on the rise. With spring, we start to see our first big hatches of the year and the fish begin to come out of their winter doldrums. The Skwala stonefly emerges and the BWO's are hatching in mass. The fish are hungry, and we see of the best opportunities of the year to find good numbers of quality fish.
Book a trip this spring and see what the Truckee has to offer!
Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
When fishing during spring runoff, people often see the river as being too large and hard to fish. While it’s true that the river is larger, it also makes the fishable areas smaller. This means that the areas that fish can hold in are fewer and it makes it easier to know where they may be. This evens the playing field. Think about sections of the river that you’ve been to during the summer that are slow, deep, and may otherwise not hold trout most times of year, other than during the occasional dry fly hatch that pushes fish back into the slower water. These sections of “frog water” are where you would be looking to fish when the flows come up. You should also target the inside bend of sweeping turns, eddies alongside fast water, or just areas of slow-moving water near the banks. The latter will really be the best during peak flows of 2k or more. High flows also often mean diminished water clarity. Turbidity is another aspect of runoff that gets a bad rap. Yes, less than a foot of visibility is certainly not great, but a bit of color to the water will make fishing heavier tippet and larger flies more effective. Heavier tippet and larger flies (I.E. larger hooks) mean higher odds of landing those Truckee River trophies. The increase in flows also dislodge the larger meals such as stones, worms, crawdads, and eggs making fish feed with reckless abandon. Fish slow water, use 2x-3x tippet, add a good amount of weight and you’ll find fish, trust us!
Recommended Flies for the Truckee River
Little Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
The flows on the Little Truckee are great right now, sitting at 150 CFS today. The fishing out here has been excellent using both dries and nymphs. At 150 CFS, Euro nymphing is a really fun way to fish this river and can be incredibly effective. 6x fluorocarbon can be very important when nymphing paired with small size 16-18 perdigons, worms, eggs, midges will be great options right now. The baetis have still been the dominant dry fly hatch right now, but we are also seeing winter stones and skwala stones. We’re just a few short weeks away from seeing the single most important bug of the summer, the PMD.
Recommended Flies for the Little Truckee
Spring Euro Nymphing Clinic
Sign up for our Euro Nymphing Clinic with TCO Guides Nate Cutler and Mike Doubek this May. This will be a two-day intensive workshop on the fundamentals of Euro Nymphing on the Truckee River. The clinic will include both on-the-water and off-the-water instruction.
Participants will receive a selection of flies, leader building materials and a swag pack in addition to quality instruction from our guides.
Anglers are asked to provide their own Euro Nymphing rod & reel for this clinic. A small number of rental rods are available through the shop. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding what kind of rod is best suited towards Euro Nymphing.
$700.00 per person for two days of instruction and guiding.
Dates - May 31st & June 1st
Reserve your spot now - limited spaces available!
